Blood of a Wolf
by sonic30
Summary: Chris had a pretty bad childhood. When he finds that the only person that likes him dies, he runs away and finds a cave with a powerful ancient relic. He gains the ability to shapeshift into a wolf, but what happens if this relic were to be stolen...?
1. The Walk Home

It's strange. As I write this, it seems that everything that has happened to me springs forward in my mind. I can see it as crystal clear as if it were actually happening right now. I'm not sure why this happens, because any other time that I try to recall some of the things in my life, I come up blank. I've done many difficult things thought through difficult times, but this is by far the most puzzling thing that I have ever come across. I will ignore the _why_ factor for now. I should really be more thankful for this strange occurrence, because I can put on paper what has already gone by that nobody else will ever know about, save for this stack of papers that I am writing on now. I need to begin my tale, in fear of the chance my memory might fail, and the story will become hazy in my mind. I shall begin about four years ago, back when I lived with my father.....

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Summer was just ending. The leaves on the numerous trees were turning various shades of red and orange, causing a swirl of beauty in the woods surrounding me as I walked. Wind whistled between branches while a large assortment of birds and insects flew lazily around the dirt path. As you can guess, it was Fall, and school was just starting up again. School was one of the many sources of torture for me in this small town that I call home. I was constantly bullied, teased, and all around hated. Even the staff hated me, and I don't know why. I was glad to be out of the building, but I had a large stack of homework, just waiting to ruin my day. I put all of these thoughts out of my mind and took in all the world around me.

I had always, and always will, love nature and all of its wonders. I never seem to get tired of just sitting under a tree and waiting patiently for whatever might happen. It all just seemed to help me keep calm and relaxed whenever I wandered into the vast world of green. The animals were a huge benefit as well. They were very accustomed to my presence, so they don't run from me when I approach them. They almost seem to be glad to see me when I get there in the afternoons. I just simply couldn't imagine any world without nature.

My thoughts were rudely interrupted by a loud string of choice words that I refuse to put down here. I would know whose voice that was anywhere, especially when the owner was drunk...again. It was my father. He was a very large alcoholic that didn't care about anything as long as he had his beer. He was almost constantly drinking, and had a seemingly endless supply of alcoholic drinks. Some of you may be able to relate to this, but even fewer can say anything about a father who is an alcoholic child abuser. Technically, at the age of 17, I'm not a child anymore, but it makes no difference to him. He'll go into my room and steal or destroy my few possessions for stupid reasons such as his favorite sports team is losing. Whenever he gets angry and I'm in the area, I'm in for a random attack. He'll use whatever he can reach to hit me. He makes my entire life miserable, and certain thoughts have crossed my mind, but there are other things that keep me going.

The brightest and most powerful shining beacon of hope in my barren wasteland of a life is my mother. She always helped me with whatever I needed and supported whatever I chose. She was who I would go to for help, and she would gladly receive me. She even helped me design and build a small shack in the forest where I put all of my favorite things that I don't want destroyed. That, by the way, is another advantage of nature. My father hates anything natural. He won't even go past the first few trees! But back to the topic. My mother kept me going in life. I could never imagine any kind of life without her.

I had to quickly refocus as my small house came into view. It was a simple wooden structure, built of wood over 200 years ago by my...uuuhh...ancestors...I don't know. My father keeps certain information from me. I mean, heck, I don't even know what town I live in! Well, although I hated doing it, I walked through the front door and tried to slip unseen to my room.

"Just where do you think you're going?" I heard from the next room, "You had better get in here _right now!_" It was my father. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as I could, so I made a mad dash for my room. "HEY! YOU HAD BETTER GET IN HERE NOW!!!" he yelled again. He was drunk and obviously angry at something. I didn't know what it was, and didn't want to find out. When I reached my room, I grabbed my new book off of my desk and vaulted out the open window, headed for my small shack in the forest.

*****

**Notes from me:** wow, this is really looking pretty decent. I know that this chapter isn't very long, but I just wanted to get some feedback on what you think! I need some help on some of the following things:

Got any names I can use for my character? I don't want it to be too common, yet not too strange either...

I need a city to set this thing in. I need some suggestions on that too.

See anything that can be improved upon? Any tips can really help, no matter how small!

Please don't assume that this is some sappy sob story. I've got some real excitement planned for the near future involving: a death, a wolf, a strange power...


	2. A Man in the Rain

The door creaked open slowly as I pushed on it, heart still pumping in over drive after hearing my father's shouts. I had narrowly escaped another drunken beating. Those were the worst because nothing seemed to stop him until he was completely exhausted. I still had the scar from the time he had thrown an empty beer bottle at me, shattering and completely slicing my arm.

These thoughts vanished as I looked around at the familiar shack interior. It had been here for almost a year now. My favorite books were stacked in a corner under the window. All of my child hood toys were in a box, right behind the small desk. The desk was simple, made by my mother and me. On it lay a small lantern that, when lit, would emit a small circle of light that just barely reached the four walls of my small paradise. I dropped my bag that held all of my school related items: books, papers, and, of course, the never ending homework. It landed in a cloud of dust that spread to the window. It looked out onto a small garden that I had been using to grow small snacks, like carrots and tomatoes. My mother was out there, planting an unknown seed in the soft soil.

"Hey, mom...Dad's drunk again." I said, trying to keep my voice even after my still lingering panic. I kept thinking that one day my father would be so drunk, angry, or both, that he would rush out here and find the shack with me in it. If that happened, then it would be _bye bye precious things..._ He would probably burn it.

"Yeah, I know..." she answered, "He broke another chair. He said that it purposely moved when he tried to sit down. I'll bet he was just off balance from all the alcohol in his system." She sounded sad, which was to be expected whenever he was drunk. He didn't save all of his anger for me. "I made you a sandwich. It's on top of your books."

"Thanks! They stole my lunch again today, so I'm pretty hungry." I said. It wasn't much because we couldn't keep very much food in our house with father around...He either ate it all or threw it out. I calmed down as I ate my meal for the day. I was glad to have at least this much.

When I finished eating, a small bird flew through the window and began eating the crumbs I had left behind. I was in the forest so much that the animals were accustomed to my presence and weren't afraid of me. This never ceased to amaze my mother, who was staring at the bird. I always seemed to have that kind of effect on animals, whether they've known me for a long time or not. It just took a while for wild animals to adjust. They would keep their distance, but not run away completely, for a few days, and then they would start approaching me, and after about two weeks, they acted like they had known me all of their life. Pets or trained animals, however, were instantly overjoyed at the sight of me, even if I had never seen them before. I wish other humans were the same way...

"I'll never understand why they do that. They just run from me, no matter how long I stay out here." my mother said as the bird flew off. She had finished planting whatever that seed was, and was walking through the door. She took off her gloves and boots, throwing them next to my homework. "I hope you plan on doing all of that. I'd hate to have your father receive another phone call from one of your hateful teachers. You remember the last time you forgot, right?" Oh, I remembered all right. I couldn't even sleep that night because of the pain. My mother was out of town, and my father refused to take me in for any kind of medical treatment, no matter how serious it was. I'm just lucky not to have broken anything by now.

"Yeah, I'll get it done. This chapter is pretty easy compared to last week's. Besides, dad didn't break my new calculator, and I'm leaving it out here this time." I said. My math teacher never failed to assign at least sixty problems each night, right next to the endless stream of essays in my science and English classes. I'm not even going to mention history...

"Well, I've gotta leave for a little while. Nobody showed up for work today. It seems that I'm the only one that doesn't get sick every other day." she said. She worked at a small grocery store in town. She didn't get very much pay, and it didn't help that my father always seemed to take half of our money and use it for beer. "Maybe I'll get a raise for working so hard..." she didn't sound very hopeful.

-----

A few minutes after she left, I picked up my math and began working. The stupid algebra two problems always took too long to complete. I stared blankly at the page with the assigned problems on it. It was as if the things we went over in class and the homework problems weren't even from the same lesson. I was the only one to never understand completely what we had to do. With a sigh, I picked up my pencil and began to write. The hours dragged by as I struggled with first my math, and then English homework. My block schedule meant that I didn't have any science or history homework tonight, but I just knew that the teachers would have a fresh pile for me tomorrow.

As I finally completed everything assigned, I noticed that rain was beginning to fall outside. I closed the window and the door before lighting the lantern, producing the small glow that was slightly comforting in the small, dark space. I went over to the corner and found the book I was reading. It was about a family who sheltered a starving wolf against the wishes of the town. I had read the book at least a dozen times. It had influenced my decision in making the wolf my favorite animal and I knew all about them. Sadly, I had yet to see one for myself. I was beginning to doubt if there were any in the forest around my home.

I cracked open the book, removed the slip of paper marking my page, and began to read. Reading was my escape from reality and I was oblivious to the time that was passing. When I finally looked up, my watch read 2:17 AM. I HAD SCHOOL IN FIVE HOURS! I quickly closed the book and began setting up my small sleeping area in the middle of the floor, only consisting of a dirt encrusted pillow and a very thin blanket. Hopefully I could be rested enough to get to school on time.

It never crossed my mind that my mother should have shown up at 10:00.

-----

I awoke to a pounding noise. Somebody was at the door. At first I rolled over and tried to sleep some more, but an image of my father standing in the doorway jolted me out of sleep. I launched straight up off of the floor, and went silently to the small crack in the wall. It provided a decent view of the doorway, so I could check and see who was out there. It turned out not to be my father, but a short, bald man, shivering in the still rainy weather. He didn't have an umbrella, so he was soaked. I quickly opened the door and let him in. I had no idea who he was or why he was here, but his face showed sympathy and sadness.

"Is your name Chris?" he asked. His voice sounded a little high pitched, which was a little weird considering he was almost able to be considered fat. I replied with a small nod, noticing that he was wearing a black suit. Why would he wear a suit in the rain? "Well, I'm afraid I have some bad news..." he hesitated, obviously unsure of how to continue. He began to say something, but was cut off as thunder exploded in the sky above. As the sound faded, he went on, "Um, I hate to be the one that has to tell you this. It would have been your father, but I tried to tell him and he just told me to find you in the forest because he didn't care about what I had to say." Yep, that sounded like my father. I waited for him to go on, with many thoughts buzzing around in my head, guessing about what he might say. Finally, he said it. The few words that would begin the complete change of my life:

"I'm sorry, but you mother has died in a terrible car accident. We rushed her to a hospital, but there was nothing we could possibly do."

He continued talking, but my mind had frozen after the first sentence. My shining beacon had vanished. All that was left in my life was my father's beatings and school. I went over to the desk and sat down, completely stunned. Strangely, the next thought that came to my mind was, _I'm gonna be late for school!_ But that didn't matter now. I didn't care about school anymore. All of my hope to have a happy life was gone! My only legal guardian was now a drunken child abuser. I would be forced to live with him, and I wouldn't have anybody to turn to for support.

I didn't think, I didn't really do anything. I just sat there, my mind going blank. Finally, I got up and ran through the door, heading in a random direction, not really caring where I might end up. I was like a zombie in the rain, oblivious to the cold and wet. I just ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran.....

*****

NOTES: Yes, this chapter is much longer than the first one. I was rushing to get it up before spring break so that I might get some reviews with some helpful advice and/or tips. And I know that the dialogue sucks. I'm not a very big talker, so making up conversations from two sides is just different for me. Hopefully I'll improve in the future.

I really hope that you guys/girls are enjoying my story. Stick with me and the real stoy line will begin to unfold in the next chapter, so no more waiting for the exciting parts involving: a strange cave, a wolf, supernatural beings, talking animals, a strange vision.....


	3. Inside the Cave

I still couldn't think. I just kept running, even though it had been almost two hours since I had bolted through the door to my shack. The rain was still pouring, which was an incredible amount of time for it to be raining that hard. Mud was so deep in some places that I had to occassionally climb out and then continue my mindless dash. Every living creature that was actually smart had gone into some kind of shelter, so I was alone. Not even the bugs wanted to be out in this kind of weather.

Eventually, I collapsed in a small pile from exhaustion and rational thought slowly returned to me. I crawled over to a tree that would provide at least some shelter from the falling rain, but the ground underneath was already soaked, so I sat in a mud pit about six inches deep and passed out. During this time, the rain must have stopped, because I awoke to soft sunshine on my face. It hadn't been dry long enough for me to warm up and I was shivering and dripping with very cold water. Mud was caked all over me, sparing no clean spots.

"Great...now I'm completely soaked on top of everything else..." I said aloud, "Oh, and now I'm talking to myself..." My voice sounded hopeless even to my ears, but I wasn't surprised. All of my life was gone. I had nowhere to turn and nobody to go to for help. It was as if my entire life had been hollowed out and filled up with disgusting ooze. My teeth's chattering reminded me that I needed to get warmed back up, or I would be in some serious trouble...well, worse that what was already happening.

I began to stumble around, searching for any kind of cave, or even a town. If I could find shelter and dry ground, then I could build a fire. My run through the rain had carried me alot farther away from home than I had ever been, so I didn't know where anything was or what kind of animals were around here. I would eventually be both thankful but also regretful because of this, but right then, I was miserable. All I could think was, _cold, need warmth, need cave, keep walking...so cold..._

While searching, I had walked onto a small hill. Maybe I had done it on purpose, or maybe it was just pure luck, but it gave me a great vantage point in which to see some of the area I was in. The storm had turned the once beautiful forest into a muddy wasteland. It would all return to normal eventually, but that glimpse of it just reminded me of my own life. I felt like I had a great life at first, but then suddenly, It had been destroyed -- That was probably when my dad began drinking -- And now the storm had destroyed what little was left of it... My mind was going over this when I spotted a small cave that wasn't too far away. I tried to think of how far I might be able to go, but all of my thoughts had been hazy since waking up, so I just set off, hoping that I would make it.

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_At least it's dry in here_, I thought as I finally crawled into the cave. First the running, then the nap in a mud puddle, and then the exhausting trek through the forest to get to the cave had left me exhausted. All I could think about was sleep. Not the small, maybe ten minute long nap from earlier, but a full eight hours...or something like that.

The cave in itself wasn't really special. It was just rocks, rocks, and, oh, more rocks. It extended off into darkness to end up who knows where. I was just glad to be out of the mud. I went over to a small, flat area and lay down to sleep. This was a bad idea, for if I would have looked around, I would have noticed the three wolf pups and their mother. I was lucky that they were asleep, because if they hadn't been, then I would have been dead the moment I stepped near the cave.

In my sleep, I had a very strange dream._ I was...floating. Black nothingness surrounded me on all sides, so I picked a random direction and, uh, started floating. I never realized until I woke up that floating was not possible. There were no sounds in the darkness. There was no sight. There was just nothing. It was representing my life. Suddenly, a flash of light flared up brightly, momentarily blinding me. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw the sillhouette of my mother. She just stood there, as if she didn't notice me. Then she slowly turned away from me and began talking without making sounds to somebody that I couldn't see. Her movements looked panicked and maybe afraid._

_I looked over and saw what could have been my father. He was darker than the darkness around him. I could see his sillhouette as well as I could see my mother's, even though he was dark among darkness. He looked as if he were signing a paper, or maybe just scribbling curses. As he put down the paper, a soft golden glow appeared. I couldn't see it clearly, so I floated closer to take a look. As I neared it, I saw what was hidden in the glow. While staring, I realized that it kind of looked like..._

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I awoke to a small weight on my chest. It felt like a small animal had snuck into the cave and mistook me for a comfy bed made of mud. I didn't want to get up because of a huge headache, but then something furry poked me right in the face. I jumped in surprise, assuming that whatever was on me was asleep. It turned out to be a small, gray wolf pup. It didn't even appear to be two weeks old. At first I thought that it looked kind of cute. Then that was erased as I realized it had yelped when I sat up. It had also assumed that I was asleep, or maybe it just thought I was that bed of mud...

The thought that sprung forward in my mind, erasing all other things, was that the mother wouldn't be far from the pups. It was sometime in the afternoon, and the light outside was fading slowly, but that didn't really help me. If the mother was awake, she didn't have to see me. She could find me using her sense of smell and her hearing. I decided that I didn't want to be in the warm interior of the cave anymore, so I sat up, only to hear a terrifying growling coming from the entrance. She had cut off my exit!

Since I couldn't get back outside, I turned and ran into the darkness of the tunnel. After about ten or fifteen steps, almost all light was gone, and my sight wasn't able to help me anymore. I tried to recall all that I had read about wolves and realized that my chances of survival were small if she really intended to kill me. There was the chance that she would just chase me off and go back to the pups, but with my luck, and the fact that the pup had yelped in surprise and fear, chances were that she was gonna kill me. Wolves are alot faster than humans, so outrunning her wasn't going to happen, but I kept going, hoping that something would help me.

As I ran, the rocky ground beneath my feet began to quickly smooth out and become free of all debris. I looked ahead and saw a light in the distance. My hopes raised, but this wasn't a movie, so a random burst of speed caused by adrenaline and hope never came, but I managed to get there all the same. I burst into a lit room, thinking that I was safe, but then I realized that even if there was light, it wasn't going to save me. Besides, it was a dead end. I went to the far wall and turned to see the mother wolf pad slowly into the light. Her eyes were focused directly on me.

I never really thought that I would die at the mercy of a wolf, but then again, I never really thought much about the future anyway. I was always just trying to get along through the present, but now I realized that I had no future. I looked frantically around the room for some means of escape or survival, but the room was completely empty. It was hopeless to even try at this point, so I sat down against the wall, watching the wolf's tortorously slow progress across the room towards me. I kept hoping that something would happen and make the wolf turn away, but it never did.

And then she lunged...

*****

NOTES: Well, another chapter finished. I kind of strayed away from detail because you wouldn't really notice it while you're exhausted and half asleep. Running down a pitch dark tunnel while being chased by an angry wolf mother doesn't really make the details stick out either. Chris didn't see them, so we don't see them.

Again, I really like how this is going, and I hope that those of you that have read this far will stick with me until Chris reaches the end of his journey, no matter how long it may be. I also hope that some new readers will come along and make my story more popular! At the current time, I only see one review for this story, so please send me some feedback... I need to know how I can improve.

Plus:

Chris needs a last name!!!

Where the heck does he live???

If you have any plot sugguestions, then please send them via a message, not in the reviews. If I use it, I don't want everybody else to know about it beforehand!

Well, thanks to all of you for reading this! Until next time...


	4. The Wooden Carving

Many people say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes. For me, this is true. There wasn't much to see, but I also noticed that time also seemed to slow down. It's amazing how quickly you can think just before you no longer think at all. As my short life replayed in my head, the wolf's arc through the air towards my throat slowed down to a crawl as I watched, completely helpless. I only wished that her strike would come faster, praying to end my horrible fear. Off to my right, I noticed a small rat quickly scurry back towards the entrance.

Wait... the rat had just run back at normal speed, and yet the wolf was still suspended in the air, as if some force were holding her there. Moving slowly, I got up and began moving towards the tunnel that would lead me back out of the cave. The small room with the floating wolf was not exactly where I wanted to be right then.

For the first time in a while, I actually glanced around and noted some details as I hurriedly made my way across the room. It was a perfectly round room, about 30 feet from wall to wall. The ceiling was about 15 feet up. It was roughly the shape of a sphere sliced in half.

The stone that made up the cavern was pure white. Now the shape _and_ the color were just plain unnatural looking. This only helped to increase my nervous state, which was already worse than it ever has been.

Having already seen everything in the cavern, and wanting to get away from the still growling wolf, I hastily made my way to the exit. Now, I've never had the best of luck, but what happened next just doesn't happen. The ceiling caved in. It completely blocked my only exit from the room. To make matters worse, the floor underneath me opened up in the perfect shape of a square. It wasn't jagged, uneven, or messed up in any way. It was simply a perfect square. This square also just happened to open up directly beneath where I was standing at the time.

It's not necessary to say, but I fell. I only fell about ten feet, but I landed on rocks and it was pretty uncomfortable. Glancing around, I realized that neither this room, nor the room above were natural. This room was roughly in the shape of a rectangular prism. It was about four feet wide, five feet long, and ten feet tall. At the back area, where I fell, was a formation of rocks that could easily serve as a ladder to get out, but there was something much more interesting on the other side that I just had to get a closer look at.

I quickly crossed the room and stopped at a small wooden table. It was about three feet high, and it looked as if it were made in a great hurry. It was only a rough shape with four legs. I was surprised that it could stand at all. But the table was not the real item of interest.

I forgot to mention that both this room and the room above were giving off some sort of light, so I could see very clearly the small wooden object resting on the table. It was a small carving of a wolf, lying asleep next to a tree. Sitting in the tree was what appeared to be a boy about my age. He also appeared to be asleep. All three objects, the boy, the tree, and the wolf, were made with such detail that they almost appeared real. If they had been colored, I would have expected them to get up and walk around the table.

I picked up the carving by its small round base and took a closer look at it. There didn't appear to be any mistakes at all. No small scratches, no unnatural markings, nothing. It was perfect in every way. This got me to begin thinking about who would make such a beautiful carving, but then hide it underground in a cavern. As I wondered, I began to delicately pet the wolf with the tip of my finger. Maybe they had been a member of an ancient race of warriors and they were ashamed or embarrassed to show their beautiful work. Maybe they died before they could reveal it. Maybe I would never figure it out.

I decided that I would leave it here, just in case whoever actually made it would still be alive and come back for it. That just meant that I had to find a way out of the cave. If all else failed, then I could always attempt to dig through the rubble and risk another rock fall. Whatever I may decide, I had to get up into the other room first.

"IT IS TIME!"

Startled, I jumped back into the wall. "What? Is someone there?" I asked.

No answer. Now I was getting creeped out as well as becoming nervous again. This whole place was beginning to seem more dangerous by the minute. I wanted no part of it. I was about to make my way to the rock ladder, when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turned my head to see that the wooden wolf _had begun to move!_ It had crawled off of the base and moved onto the table. It was staring at me with its small eyes, but it appeared more curious than threatening.

It hadn't changed in appearance, other than the fact that it had begun moving, but it now seemed a little more intimidating with its now working fangs and claws. I stood still, hoping that I wouldn't scare it. As stated earlier, I like wolves, but this was not a normal wolf.

It slowly sat down and looked over at my right hand. I didn't realize anything at first, but then I fell some sort of force pulling at my hand. There was nothing there, but my hand was being forcefully pulled toward the table. In a panic, I tried to pull it back, but that only caused the force to violently yank it and slam it palm up on the table. No matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to move it at all in any direction. It just lay on the table in front of the wolf. The wolf, by the way, was now padding silently over to my upturned palm.

THUMP! I turned around at the noise to see that the real wolf from the other room was now very mobile and had dropped into the room. Once again, I frantically tried to remove my hand from the table, but this time was not any different.

While watching the wolf closing in on me in the small room, there was a sharp pain in my hand. I looked down to see that the wooden wolf had sliced a large gash all the way across my palm. It was now bleeding all over the table, but I've had worse injuries from my father, so I turned my attention back to the real wolf that was now right in front of me.

I shrank back against the wall, in order to create as much distance between me and the wolf as possible, but it completely ignored me and went to the table. As if this wasn't strange enough, the wolf also put her paw on the table in the same position as mine. She stayed calmly still as the wooden wolf repeated its action on her. We now both had identical wounds on our right hands… well, her paw, but that wasn't really important at the moment, because the force was now pulling both of our hands/paws together over the table.

When the wounds made contact, extreme pain flashed through my entire body. I could see from the wolf's reaction and her yelp that she was also feeling the same pain. My mind clouded as the blood mixed through the open wounds. I pulled back from the pain, but the unknown force was holding us together, forcing this strange mixing to occur.

Before I passed out yet again, I had two thoughts. The first was that I had probably been unconscious plenty of times already today. The seconds was that the wooden was now a part of the carving again, and it didn't have a single drop of blood on it.

*****

I awoke sometime later to find myself back in the first room of the cavern. The rocks causing the cave in were still there, but the hole was not. Maybe I had just imagined the whole thing. I mean, carving just didn't come to life, and there weren't forces that did those things. But it had seemed so real…

"Finally! You've been asleep for quite a while now." Said an unknown female voice from somewhere in the room. "I guess it was too much for you. Or maybe it was just too early?" I tried to speak, but my mouth felt odd. In fact, my whole body felt odd. I decided that it would be a bad idea to try and stand up, so I looked around for the owner of the voice while lying down.

After a quick scan of the room, I found that there was nobody in the room but me and the wolf. I wasn't worried about her now because she looked content to just stare at me, a curious look in her eye.

The room now had a terrible odor to it, but there didn't appear to be anything different. I couldn't place what the smell might be, so I began to breathe through my mouth to avoid smelling it. In fact, the room also looked slightly different. It wasn't really different, but it was as if my eyes had changed slightly and I was viewing it in a new way.

"Hello?" I finally managed. It sounded weak and forced, but at least I got it out. "Who is that?" I really needed to know who else was in the area. Maybe they could help.

"I'm right over here. Didn't you see me?" A pause, "OH!" there was a giggle. "You haven't figured it out, have you? Here's a hint. Look at the wall in front of you."

I looked up. "I don't see any…" As I watched, a portion of the rock wall began to change. At first, it just became shiny, but it soon became reflective and looked like a giant mirror. What I saw didn't make any sense. I saw a small white wolf lying on the ground. Was that who was talking? Behind that wolf was another grayish wolf. It looked strangely like…

Then it hit me. I gasped. I couldn't hold my surprise in. The small white wolf in the mirror was _me_. I couldn't think straight. This was impossible. I couldn't possibly be a wolf! Things like this just weren't possible!

I jumped up and tried to run over to the mirror, but I couldn't even take two steps before I fell down and slammed into the dirt. The gray wolf in the mirror began to laugh and stood up. I managed to turn around and look at her. It was definitely the same wolf that had chased me down the tunnel. She looked the exact same, and there was some dried blood on the bottom of her right paw.

"Wow… You'll need a lot of practice. Oh, and sorry about chasing you through the tunnel like that. You scared my son and my first thought was that you were just another hunter. They don't try to hunt wolves as often as they used to, but I still have to be ready to protect my children." She had stopped laughing, but still had a smile on her… muzzle… if wolves could smile at all.

"How is this even possible?! Or am I just still asleep?" I asked. I was beginning to get used to talking through a wolf's mouth…er…muzzle. I had managed to get into a sitting position, but it felt odd, seeing as how humans don't sit the way that wolves do.

"It's possible because you are WhiteFur. It was planned since time began for this to happen. There was no choice in the matter for either of us. You are WhiteFur, and I am to be your guide to this new way of life. For you see…" There was a bright flash of light. When the light was at a bearable level again, I looked up to see… well… my mother. "For you see, I am your mother."

*****

Wow. This chapter was a long one. Oh, and before I forget to say anything, I didn't forget about this story, or lose interest, it's just that my computer was taken away. Please don't ask. Also, I recently had my first case of the dreaded writer's block. I was partway through ch. 4 when I just couldn't think of what to do next. Then marching band and tennis started, so I had even less time to think. Then, it all suddenly rushed at me, and I had to delete the entire chapter that I had written so far to make my new ideas work. I personally think that the new ones are better. I bet nobody expected his mother to appear? I was even surprised when the idea came to me. Well, enough excuses about my lateness in writing.

Again, if you have any ideas about the story, you can submit them to me via a message on . You're probably on that site as you're reading this, so it shouldn't be a problem.

I gotta thank some of my friends for reading this and giving small ideas to me. I won't name anybody yet, because they didn't really give me anything big. If you happen to be one of those friends, then give me some better ideas and maybe you'll be featured here! It's nothing against you.

Well, thanks for reading, but it may be a while before I get the next chapter up because of my limited computer access along with band and tennis taking up my time. Until next time, this is sonic30 and Chris, signing out….wow, that didn't come out as cool as I'd hoped…


	5. A Gardyen?

THUMP! I fell to the ground for what seemed to be the hundredth time. I was completely exhausted physically and mentally confused. In writing this, I've skipped a few hours between where I last wrote and now. Don't worry you haven't missed much. Just me. Walking in circles…

"Can't you just tell me now?!" I asked again desperately. "I'm tired and I'm not sure if I'll ever get the hang of this."

"Sorry," said my mom. "We agreed that I would explain as much as I can just as soon as you can walk an entire circle along the wall of this cave without falling down even once. So far, you've only made it about half way before going down. Keep going!" Even though she was the best person in my life, I was getting a little ticked off. I was having more than a little trouble adjusting to my new four legged position, along with the shortened limbs and the added tail for balance. Trust me. It's harder than it sounds.

* * * * *

Well, instead of telling the story of me falling down over and over again, I'll try to fill in some of the details that I noticed about my appearance. I was in a bit of shock when I first found out that I had changed into a wolf, and I didn't really take in the details of how I looked, but I had plenty of time to do this as I circled the cavern.

First off, I want to note that I had pure white fur. I guess that this explains the whole "WhiteFur" thing. Not very original if you ask me. Next, I was about the size of a two month old pup. I didn't seem too amazing at the time. In fact, I looked cute rather than cool. That's pretty far from what had been in my dreams.

Yeah. I used to have dreams about turning into a wolf. They were my favorite dreams to have, but now that it's real, I'm seeing quite a few differences. I'm a pup instead of a fully grown wolf. My fur is white instead of the brown or gray you might expect from a forest area. In the dreams, I would… oops. I got a little off track there. Well, it's now written in pen, so no changing that.

Now back to my appearance. My claws were still sharp, but I knew that they would become dull over time. For those of you that don't know, because wolves can't retract their claws like felines can, their claws begin sharp, but are dulled over time by the unavoidable friction added with every step. This does not mean that they are any less dangerous.

My eyes were a light shade of blue, like the sky on a clear day. The blue easily stood out against all of the surrounding white. It created a strange kind of cool look on top of the overall cuteness. I was still more cute than cool, though.

Well, since those are the only real details that I can fill in, I guess that I'll just skip to the end of the walking practice…

* * * * *

At this point, I was past exhaustion, but I kept going because I really needed to put my mind to rest. It had been going crazy with guessing about everything with impossible ideas, but then again, I was a wolf. That didn't seem very possible either.

I glanced up from my walk and saw that I just had a few more feet to go before I would complete a full lap. I had begun to understand the ways that the wolf's body worked, and now I could actually walk! Amazingly enough, just walking in a circle was a big achievement. I mean, have you ever tried to walk just after you entire physical form changed? It's not easy.

I crossed the line that my mother had made in the ground with her claws. That was to be the finish line. It had been a goal for hours, and now I fell to the ground with a victory sigh. A victory sigh might not seem like much, but it was all I could get out at the time.

"Wow. You did it faster than I did! You're catching on quickly." Said mom, "Now, a promise is a promise, so I'll try to tell you everything that I know about what you're going through." She walked over to me, still in human form, and sat down. I felt her hand on my back, and she began to rub my fur. It felt really good. I know why dogs like being petted now…

"Well, the first thing that I have to tell you is that I am _not_ your biological mother. In fact, you don't even _have_ a biological mother. To explain this, I'll have to explain some other things first, but I'll get to those later." By this point, I was already shocked. How could there possibly be more?

"Basically, every generation, there is one person chosen to be the new Gardyen. A Gardyen is what you are now; a person who can freely change their form between that of a human, and that of a wolf. The main task assigned to a Gardyen is to protect the Carving of Generations. Most of us just call it the Carving.

"The Carving, as you saw earlier, has the power to enable a wolf-human transformation in a person. It simply needs a blood sample from both the human and wolf that will be granted these powers. It then forces a fusion of the blood within the bodies and mixes the DNA. This, somehow, allows the transformation. I don't really know much else about the Carving, so I'll move on to another subject… unless you have questions?" she paused.

"Actually, yes; I do." I said. "Earlier, you said 'both the human and wolf that will be granted these powers'. Does that mean that normal wolves can be given this… ability?" I had hoped that it wasn't a stupid question, seeing as how I knew nothing about what I was asking.

"You caught that, huh?" she began, "Well, you're actually right. Normal wolves can also be granted the ability to become a human. In fact, I started life as a wolf. I gained a human form through the same process you gained your wolf form. Most of the Gardyens begin as a human, but I was one of the few that went the other way.

"In fact, I might as well explain about myself while we're on the subject." My ears perked up when she said this, causing some giggles to issue forth. "Like I said, I began as a wolf. I was labeled as an outcast in my pack and was left to fend for myself. There was no reason for this, save for the fact that the alpha, or leader, wolf in the pack said that I had a dangerous 'aura.' He said that whenever I was near him, he would feel cold and he would become afraid for no reason. Since we were in the same pack, the only thing he could do to solve this was to stop for the night in a cave and leave while I slept.

"Like you, I had no biological mother. I was just found asleep in the bushes and the pack took me in. This meant that I had no one that cared enough to stay behind or at least try to help me. I was left completely alone for most of my life. In fact, the cave I was left in was the very cave that you entered earlier. I explored it further and further every day, until I knew every inch of it. I actually grew happy with my little cave. Nobody ever bothered me… until he came.

"It was a few years ago. I was just beginning to eat a deer that I had caught, when a very large male wolf walked into the cave. He looked very tired and hungry, so I offered him some of the deer. He declined by going straight past me and into the deeper areas of the cave. I was very curious as to what he was doing, so I hid the deer behind a rock and followed him at a safe distance.

"He stopped in the same round chamber that we're in now and turned around to face me. He asked me to come inside and the only exit collapsed behind me, just like it did for you. Only this time, he explained to me what I was and how it was to happen before I saw the Carving. I told him that I didn't believe the story, so he shifted to his human form and opened the passage to the Carving chamber.

"From what you went through, you already know what happened next. I was given my human form and I had to do many little training exercises to get used to my new body, just like you. I even had to do the same full circuit of the room, except in human form instead of wolf.

"After I had learned everything and gained complete control over all aspects of being a Gardyen, he left and I never saw him again. I've been guarding the Carving for the rest of the time I've been here. Except for when I was with your sad excuse for a foster father raising you. Yes, I forgot to mention that he adopted you. Don't even think that this meant that he liked you. He only did it because his sister always wanted to adopt a child, but she passed away, and he finished her final wishes.

"I never knew until today that you were the new Gardyen… which reminds me. You still have a lot of work to do in order to get used to your new form." She finished. This was a lot of information to swallow, but there was even more that was left unexplained.

"Who was the man? What else does a Gardyen have to do? Can the Carving do anything else? What does–" I began, but she cut me off.

"Too many questions! You need to do some more work before I'll explain anything else. Except for one thing; you may call me GrayTail."


	6. Good News and Bad News

I ended up spending the next several weeks in that cave. Over that time, I just did more and more training in order to successfully move around as a wolf. Spaced around in all of this, my mother, or as she preferred to be called, GrayTail, would give me more little snippets of information of the lives of Gardyens. Most of what she said just confused me more, raising more questions than it answered. I hated it. I didn't like to be confused, but it was all so hard to understand.

Basically, as GrayTail said before, the Gardyens' main purpose is to guard the Carving of Generations. It had the ability to give both humans and wolves the power to shift between forms. My "mother" was the Gardyen before me, and now, as I understood it, I was to be the new Gardyen. Also, I wasn't really born, like most people. I just was. Like all Gardyens, I apparently just appeared one day. I was taken in by an orphanage and adopted by my foster father, who wasn't the best parent a child could hope for, but I managed to make it through it all.

The cave I was in, as explained later by GrayTail, was actually both the chamber for hiding the Carving and the training grounds for all Gardyens. Nobody knew how it was created, or even _when_ it was created. That's pretty much all that was explained to me summed up into a short and easy to swallow version for you. All I knew was that the cave became a bit like my own personal training gym from hell. All that work was never fun, but as time passed, I managed to get better at using my wolf body. GrayTail's horrible commands clashing with her gentle encouragement all on top of her light sense of humor made it a strange experience to say the least. I won't bore you with the details of more laps or jumping over rocks, so instead I'll just skip to the last day that I spent locked in that cave.

"YES! I finally did it!" I shouted, the triumph and relief clearly showing in my voice. I had just managed to perform a difficult running jump into a bit of a hop off of the wall that was to be my final test.

"You sure did. Now… what should you do next…" said GrayTail, a teasing glint appearing in her eye.

"What? You said that was it!" I shouted. I was all ready to be over and done with all of these horrible training exercises that had put me on edge for the last few weeks. I was exhausted, sore, and wanted to be able to see normal sunlight again. The last thing I wanted to do was more training.

"I'm only kidding." She said, "You're officially done now!" She smiled at me. I couldn't help it, I jumped up in the air and shouted out of sheer joy. I was done with all of the repetitive tasks in that cave.

"Finally! I can't wait to get out of here! There's just not enough room." I complained. All of my curiosity was momentarily forgotten.

"So… before we leave, is there anything else you'd like me to explain? I can't tell you much more that what I've already told you, but I guess you could try asking." She said, reminding me of all the questions I still had running around in my head.

"Well… Who was the man that you said found you in the cave when you were still a wolf? The one that showed you the carving." I asked. That man had been on my mind ever since she had told me about him.

"Oh. Well… I don't really know. All I can say for sure is that he was the previous Gardyen. He left after he trained me and I never saw him again. Sorry, but I really don't know." She said, answering absolutely nothing.

"Ok. Hmm… if you knew that I was to be the next Gardyen, then why did you chase me down the tunnel when I first got here? And do you really have pups to take care of even though you're the Gardyen?" These were also questions that hadn't been answered yet. I couldn't think of anything that made any sense, so I hoped she could give me a straight answer.

"Ah. I can answer those." She said, "To answer your first question, I was actually half asleep and didn't realize it was you. All I knew was that somebody had scared one of my pups as he was exploring and we've had a lot of hunters killing wolves, then leaving the body to rot. I'm not sure why. And yes, Gardyens can technically have children, but those aren't actual children. They are very powerful illusions created by the Carving to hide what this cave really is. They act like real pups, but I've grown attached to them as if they were my own pups. Kind of like how I grew attached to you as you grew up."

"Oh, so even the great Gardyen can sometimes be slowed down in the mornings?" I replied sarcastically. Her answer that covered what I wanted to know, but I didn't expect such a simple answer for the first part. But illusion children? I decided not to ask because it would probably confuse me even more. Plus, I was too excited about finishing my training to wait any longer. I just had to get out of there!

"Well… that's it for now. How do we get out of here?" I asked, wondering if there were some sort of amazing thing about to happen to get us out of the cave, like maybe teleportation, or psychically lifting the rocks! That would have been so cool!

"How about we try going out the way we came in? That seems easiest, don't you agree?" She said. What? The entrance was covered by rocks! How could we possibly just walk out of there? She obviously saw the confusion on my face and said, "Turn around. You'll see."

I turned around to find… well… a tunnel. The same tunnel I had come in through. But that's impossible! It had collapsed after I came in! But there it was, looking as perfect as could be. Not a scratch on it. No trace of a rock fall of any kind. And on top of that, the rocks had been there less than five minutes ago when I had last seen that area. They had somehow cleared out of the way without me hearing or seeing them, even with my heightened hearing. I looked back at GrayTail just in time to see her walk past me.

"Well? Come on. Didn't you want to get out of here?" she called over her shoulder.

"Uuh… yeah!" I replied, running to catch up with her. I also quickly decided to not even ask about the rocks either. My list of "don't ask" questions was swiftly building. I was burning with curiosity, but I just kept silent and followed her until we got to the entrance of the cave.

I stepped out into the sunlight and had to squint in the bright light, reminding me that I had just spent several weeks inside a dimly lit cave. The ground was damp, as if it had rained recently, just like the day I had arrived. It made me think back to how I got here. The man telling me that my mother was dead. The mad dash through the forest. Passing out under the tree. Collapsing on the rocks in the cave. I didn't linger on these memories very long, for they weren't very happy. I looked back to GrayTail to see her standing just inside the cave entrance. She hadn't yet stepped out.

"Come on, GrayTail! The sun's shining, and the ground isn't wet enough to be uncomfortable. We should go out and celebrate or something!" I said, smiling. The smile quickly faded, though, as I saw the sad look on her face. "What? Is something wrong?"

"I… I can't leave the cave." She said, looking down. "The man that told you I had died wasn't lying. I was in human form and died in a car crash. The impact instantly killed my human half. I guess I forgot to explain that." I walked back over to her, confusion clouding over my excitement again.

"Well, you obviously know about our two forms at this point. One wolf, and the other human. Each of the forms takes on injuries separately. For example, when the Carving cut open your hand, the scar wasn't there in your wolf form, but when you change back, you'll have the scar across your palm. If you were to cut your leg in wolf form, you could change back to human form and have no injury whatsoever.

"As you stay in a form while your other form is injured, it will still heal the wounds. This is a very useful way to keep moving, even if you're badly injured. However, there is a large downside to this ability. If one of your forms were to die, it won't be able to heal. You will be brought back here, to the cave, just as I was. You won't be able to leave. Your forms are connected still, so if you aren't sustained by the power of the Carving, then the death of one form will destroy the other.

"I now cannot leave this cave without both forms dying. You are free to leave, but I must stay here and guard the Carving. You can still continue to practice mastering your Gardyen abilities, but you will be contacted when I can no longer protect the Carving myself." She finished. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I find out that she wasn't dead after all, only to hear that she was trapped in this cave. My happiness faded quickly, leaving only an empty pit inside me. I was still just as alone as I was before.

"Well… where do you suggest I go? I can't go back home. It's been weeks. Dad will be furious if I show up, and somebody will have to have noticed I was gone, even if nobody liked me. The police will have too many questions that I can't answer." I said. I was now desperate. Maybe I would be able to stay here with her, but life never turns out the way you want it.

"No. However long it may have felt in the cave, the Carving has ensured that only one day has passed since you entered the cave. You can still return home, with the only penalty being that you never got home in time for dinner. It's Saturday, so don't worry about school, but your… father… won't be too happy. Just be careful when you see him." I didn't like her answer at all. I had only skipped Friday. And now I had no choice but to go back home.

"But nothing is waiting for me back at home! All that I had looked forward to is now gone!" I shouted, tears forming in my eyes. "With you gone, my life is just misery! Just school and dad. Dad and school. I won't be able to take it!" At this point I shifted over to human form, just like I had been taught in the cave. I ran back over to GrayTail… no… my mother, for I loved her like I would love a real mother. As I ran, she shifted to human form too, and I hugged her, my only thoughts were of staying away from my horrible old life.

"You must go. You can't stay here any more that I can leave. I know it won't be easy, but you must find a way." My tears were flowing freely now, soaking into her shirt. "I wish I could find an easier way for you too, but I can't. Now go." She gently pushed me back, turned me around, and gave me a small push towards the trees. I stood dazed for a moment, then turned around. What I saw finally broke the barrier and I fell to the ground, crying for the first time in years. The cave was gone. The Carving was gone. My mother was gone. I truly had nothing left.

I can't be sure how long I cried, but it was long enough to release much of my pent up sadness that I had held inside for so long. When the tears had stopped flowing and I was able to stand again, I began the walk back to my shack, and, beyond it, my house and my father.

My first hint that something was wrong was the slight scent of smoke drifting on the breeze. I stopped for a moment, and then quickened my pace to reach the top of a small rise, which I knew was just behind my shack in the woods. I had managed to find my way back to a familiar patch of trees, but then the smell hit me. As I came in sight of my shack, I felt the tears try to return. All that was left was a pile of ashes, slowly blowing away with the wind, and a few pieces of charred wood. Somehow, my place of temporary solitude had been burned to the ground.

I ran to the pile and dropped to my knees. There was absolutely nothing left. I looked around, hoping to see something familiar, something that I could connect with my old life. Unfortunately, I did. Lying on the ground, not too far from the ashes, was a bottle of cheap beer. The same brand that my father had been drinking for as long as I could remember. My worst fear had been realized. He had found my shack and burned it to the ground. Sadness overcame me, but it was slowly erased and replaced by a burning hatred.

I got back on my feet and set out towards my house. No thoughts were in my head except for hate, anger, and loathing. The one thing that I might have had left was burnt down by the one person I hated the most. In my anger, I quickly traversed the forest and was soon within sight of the house. I hesitated only a moment, then threw open the door, causing it to crash loudly against the wall.

"What the hell?" my father yelled from across the house. "Chris? Is that you? Get in here!" I followed his voice and found him, unsurprisingly, on the sofa in front of the television, surrounded by beer bottles. "Where have you been? No son of mine is going to skip school and get away with it!" He got up and faced me. He was a full foot and a half taller than me, forcing me to look up at him.

"I asked you a question, boy! Where have you been?" he yelled again, spit flying from his mouth. I stared at him silently until he continued to yell. "I pay money for you to go to that school! Money I could use on something useful! And now with that stupid woman dead, you decide to waste my money and go running off with your little animal friends in that stupid hut! I burned it to the ground, so what are you going to do now?"

I had stopped listening the second he said "stupid woman." My rage had built up to a peak and I couldn't contain it any longer. Whatever he was going to say next was cut off as I launched myself at him, sending him to the ground. He looked back up at me in surprise, which turned into a look of drunken anger. He threw me off and stood up, picking up a belt as he did so. He held it so that the metal end was away from him, causing a lot more damage when he swung it at something. Or someone. Specifically, me.

Usually, I would have fled at this point, but I suddenly remembered that I now had something that I could use to level the playing field.

**NOTES: **well… another chapter that took me way too long to get put out there for your guys to read. Sorry about that… I have no excuses… just chalk it up to pure teenage laziness. Oh well… at least it's done now.

So… Chris is finally out of the cave. And a lot of stuff has been explained. Coming up with all of this stuff is harder than I had originally thought it would be. Every time I come up with something new, it leaves huge plot holes that I need to fill in.

Oh well, now that I've complained a bit, wow! Such a long chapter! And I've answered a few more questions that you guys might have had, too. But poor Chris. I feel kinda bad for putting him through all of this. But that's just how it has to go in order for the story to evolve in the way I need it to. And, OH BOY! He finally gets a chance to get back as his ***censored*** father for everything he's done to him! Next chapter will be my first attempt at some actual action scenes. Wish me luck!

Hopefully it won't take me nearly as long to get the next chapters up now that I'm out of the difficult section in my story. I've got the next few chapters already planned out, so be on the lookout for what might come next!


	7. An Outburst of Rage

The man who was considered my father stood across the room from me. We stared at each other, anger blazing through us for completely different reasons. He was just in a drunken rage, but I was furious because of all the times he had hurt me or my mother. I was angry because he had burned down the shack that my mother and I had built together as a place of escape from the world. The thing that made me the angriest, however, was the way he viewed her as dirt. He treated my mother like some sort of slave and didn't care how she felt. It just wasn't right.

We stared at each other across the room, so much anger passing between our gazes. We stood there for a while, neither of us speaking or moving. The belt that he held glinted dimly in the light of the sun filtering through the window. I eyed it cautiously, but he took this as fear and grinned.

"Heh. Not looking so tough now, are you?" he said, a drunken slur blending his words together. "Maybe if you stop this little tantrum of yours, I won't have to hit you as much before I go back to the couch." His cocky attitude just made the scenario worse. My gaze snapped back to his face.

"Shut up! You've never done anything good in your life. Somehow, you manage to marry a wonderful person, but then you spend all day drinking cheap beer and watching television." As I speak, his face twists into a mask of rage. "Somehow, you both decide to adopt a child. You get me, but you don't view me as a human being. You just treated me as some kind of pest that was kept around only as long as it didn't concern you. And now, she's gone! Do you show one ounce of care? NO! She was just an easier way to get beer from the fridge to your hand. It's not right!"

"Don't you DARE raise your voice at me!" He begins to scream, both rage and alcohol blinding him. "I took the time to raise you. I let you sleep in my house. I let you eat my food. I let you wear my old clothing. I've been around for much longer than you have, little boy, and you have no right to speak to me as if you know more than I do. And that woman you call your mother? Why should I care if she's dead? I'll just have to get up to get my beer instead of having that bitch do it for me!" This was too much and I snapped.

I flung myself at him again, screaming in rage. This was a bad move because, even when overly intoxicated, he was able to see me coming and swung the belt through the air. The metal buckle connected with the side of my head, sending me off balance and flailing to the side. Spots dance before my eyes for a moment and I feel warm blood begin to drip down my head.

"You can't hurt me! I've got my belt and my beer. You've got nothing! Just give up now and I… I… WHAT?" He broke off as he saw me begin to glow. I had finally decided that it was time to reveal my new secret weapon. I began to change and his face went from rage to surprise and from surprise to confusion, then confusion to fear. I finished my change and the glow faded. I stood there in the living room, my white fur standing out against the grays and browns of the room.

A growl formed in my throat, but it was high pitched and soft. I ignore it and stare at him. He stared at me in wonder, too shocked to speak, but his fear began to fade slowly away. Eventually he began to smile. It was now my turn to be surprised. Why was he smiling? But then I remembered a very important point. No matter how much training I had done, I still had the body of a very young wolf, with the strength and agility to match. He must have realized this and figured out the small level of threat. I faltered for a moment, but then sprung at him.

He tried to hit me with his belt again, but my smaller size and his alcohol fueled state caused him to miss. I barreled into his chest, knocking him over. The anger within me overcame my fear and I began to savagely tear into him. My claws, still sharp because my wolf body was young, tore easily through him, but the wounds weren't deep. That didn't matter because I could see from the look on his face that every cut hurt pretty badly.

In a panic, he dropped the belt and began to simply beat me with his fists. In response, I turned and bit his arm, causing him to scream in pain. I felt a dark satisfaction at the sound and bit harder. Warm blood flowed into my mouth, bathing my tongue in its taste. For some reason, I enjoyed it. Thinking back, it's a bit terrifying to think of that enjoyment.

"What in the hell are you?" He managed to say, finally ceasing his struggles. "Because you are NOT human. You're some kind of freak, like on the television." He then punched me square in the nose with his free arm, causing me to release my grip, but he was too tired to continue fighting.

"Not so tough now, are you?" I asked him, not even caring that he couldn't understand me in wolf form. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this moment? To be here, standing over you with victory on my side?" My rage was pushing me on. I had finally beat him. I wanted to end it. I wanted to end him.

My vision swam red as I stared down at him. He had fear in his eyes as he met my gaze. He opened his mouth as if he was saying something, but I couldn't hear him. I was too far into my own rage for that. My mouth opened and a small growl came forth yet again. All I could think about at that moment was biting through the flesh of his neck and watching him die. The anticipation of the feeling of teeth tearing through flesh made my heart race.

Seeing the look in my eyes, he froze. Seeing an opening, I quickly lunged forward, jaws parted, aiming for his throat.

**Ooh… cliffhanger…**

**NOTES:** _**OK… I lied… and I apologize to anyone who's been waiting for this chapter to come out. But, between Indoor Percussion (Indiana State Champions and World Finalists), graduating high school, needing a new computer two times, and getting a job, it was really difficult to continue writing. Don't worry, though, because I do plan to continue writing. I'm not **__**that**__** evil. Besides, this chapter was sort of fun to write. However, it would REALLY, **__**REALLY**__** help if you guys would leave me some reviews telling me what to improve. I love little messages that say "great story" or "I love it" or "keep it up" but I'm not getting any feedback on how to improve. If you guys seriously wanna help me with this story, then find everything wrong that could be done better and shove it in my face. PLEASE! **_

**On the bright side, I plan to make writing more chapters a larger part of my schedule from now on.** **Plus, my new laptop is amazing, so I'll be able to keep track of stuff much better. Thanks for reading!**


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